Rotating Grapple Helps Landscaper Build Rock Structures Better and Faster

As landscape contractor Tom Bever will tell you, there are two ways to build boulder structures when space is limited: • The hard way, using a crew to wrestle the rocks in place by hand. • The smart way, using a long-arm Bobcat® 341 compact excavator equipped with a Bobcat rotating grapple. Building these structures is one of the services provided by his company, Bever and Sons Landscaping. The design-build firm is based in White Bear Lake, Minn. The 341 excavator saves time and labor in a variety of digging and grading jobs on landscape construction projects, but it really shines when it’s teamed with the rotating grapple for building walls and waterfalls. “We’re always looking for ways to get jobs done faster and more efficiently without sacrificing quality,” he says. “This equipment lets us build retaining walls 30 to 40 percent faster than using hand labor. It cuts a fourman job down to just two guys—one to operate the excavator, the other to spot the boulders.” But there are even more advantages. “We can take on bigger projects and, because the machines can handle larger rocks, the rock structures look much more natural. Plus, our guys don’t mind coming to work when they know they don’t have to muscle the rocks in place.” Bever uses the 22-in.-wide model of the multi-purpose, pin-on rotating grapple. “We can use the bottom half of the grapple as a bucket for digging drain line trenches and wall footings without having to use a separate bucket attachment,” he adds. “We also use it to move balled and burlapped trees.” Bever has used the 341 excavator, which can reach as far as 20 ft., and the rotating grapple to install a variety of boulder structures, including some high-profile projects. Last year, for example, he and his crew used them to build a 6-ft.-high waterfall as part of a permanent garden at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. This equipment allowed them to lift and place rocks weighing nearly a ton. “The rotating grapple works just like your hand and wrist,” he says. “I could rotate these large rocks 360 degrees to quickly and easily find the best face when I placed them. It would have been impossible to achieve the aesthetic qualities of this project doing the work by hand and using smaller rocks.” Bever also used the 341 excavator and rotating grapple to place about 1,000 tons of boulders in building a water feature at the city hall in Hugo, Minn. It includes a 140-ft. rock-lined stream that drops a total of 8 ft. through a series of pools. The advanced hydraulics of the 341 feature smooth, multi-function operation and easy, precise fingertip control of the rotating grapple. That’s proven especially valuable for working in close quarters when Bever builds a waterfall and pond feature for his exhibit booth at the annual Minneapolis Lawn and Garden Show. A synthetic liner is used to contain the water. Then 30 tons of boulders are put into position. “I have to be very careful when placing the rocks to prevent puncturing the liner,” he explains. “With the 341, I can place a rock within 1/8 -in. of where I want it before releasing the grapple. It used to take us a week to build this by hand and we needed to use smaller rocks. Now we can do it a whole lot easier in just two days.” An enclosed, heated and air conditioned cab adds to Bever’s productivity and pleasure when operating the 341 excavator. “It’s fun to run this machine,” he says. “It’s very strong and has met all our needs.”